The Exceptional Delivery Model for probation practice in England and Wales meant that probation practitioners predominantly worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, engaging and supervising service-users remotely. This article explores the impact of the Exceptional Delivery Model on staff and their practice. We begin by considering how probation practice changed because of the implementation of the Exceptional Delivery Model and the impact that this has had on probation staff. The reality of probation work is brought into perspective when there are children in the home and the demarcation of work and home life is easily blurred, especially when considered through the lens of ‘emotional dirty work’. We then present analysis of interviews with 61 practitioners and managers in the National Probation Service. The interviews were primarily focused on staff wellbeing and emotional labour as opposed to the impact of the pandemic, but participants regularly raised the pandemic in discussions. We focus on three key themes: the challenges of working from home and remote communication, experiences of managing risk through doorstep visits and the spill over of probation work into personal lives. The article concludes by considering what the findings tell us about probation work and potential future implications.

英格兰和威尔士缓刑实践的特殊交付模式意味着缓刑从业人员在 COVID-19 大流行期间主要在家工作，远程参与和监督服务用户。本文探讨了卓越交付模型对员工及其实践的影响。我们首先考虑缓刑实践如何因特殊交付模型的实施而发生变化以及这对缓刑人员的影响。当家里有孩子并且工作和家庭生活的界限很容易模糊时，缓刑工作的现实就被带入了视野，尤其是从“情绪性肮脏工作”的角度来考虑时。然后，我们对国家缓刑服务中心的 61 名从业人员和管理人员的访谈进行了分析。采访主要关注员工福祉和情绪劳动，而不是大流行的影响，但参与者经常在讨论中提到大流行。我们专注于三个关键主题：在家工作和远程沟通的挑战、通过上门拜访管理风险的经验以及缓刑工作对个人生活的影响。文章最后考虑了调查结果告诉我们有关缓刑工作和潜在未来影响的内容。